Various space systems demand energy collectors and transmitters, reflectors, radio antennas, and radiant energy sensors having large surface areas. Transportation from earth to space requires that these surfaces be deployable from a small size when launched to a large size in space. It is for the purpose of efficiently packaging, deploying, and structurally supporting such surfaces that this invention is particularly concerned.
Previous patented attempts at such structures were noted from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,508,270; 3,521,290; 3,576,566; 3,605,197 and 3,729,743. In addition, another patent of particular interest to this disclosure is U.S. Pat. No. 3,617,113 showing a deployable structure for the supporting of an antenna reflector using a ring made up from a plurality panels hinged to wedge structures for extending a plurality of vertical panels to form a cylinder by which the reflector is supported and within which the reflector is randomly bunched up before deployment. It is in the improvement of the structure such as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,617,113 that this invention is concerned. Specifically this invention eliminates the need for a heavy structure such as in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,617,113 patent and enables use of other than highly distortable single surfaces.
More particularly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a deployable support which may be made of the extremely lightweight tubular structure and located normal to a central hub by lightweight spokes much as one would suspend the rim from the hub of a spoked wheel.
A more particular object of this invention is to present a structural arrangement of a segmented and hinged rim supported by spokes joined to a common hub so that the rim can be more compactly packaged than is possible by prior art standards while being better capable of achieving larger deployed size than possible with the prior art without bunching with consequent wrinkling and deterioration of payload surfaces such as reflector material.
A more particular object of this invention is to provide a rigid, non-spinning deployable structure composed of a foldable rim having an even number of segments hinged by means of practicing this invention to be foldable about a common hub from which radial tension spokes structurally stablize the rim in the deployed configuration.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a means to deploy a circular antenna reflector or solar collector, etc., by a plurality of articulated rim segments that are caused to deploy from a stowed position while unrolling gore panels and tension spoke means from a central hub.
It is also a still further object of this invention to provide means on the hub of a deploying structure to insure alignment thereon of deployable panels.
Still further is an object of this invention to control the rate of deployment of articulated rim segments by controlling the rate of deployment of spoke means connected to said articulated rim segments during deployment.